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THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. [ OCTOBER, 



are — 25 years in getting to perfection, 25 years remaining in that state, and 25 

 years declining. It is one of the most beautiful trees imaginable, and ought to 

 be seen now (August 21) whilst its beauties are perfect. 



.Eye, Sussex. Edwin Nathaniel Dawes. 



THE CULTURE OF THE CALCEOLARIA. 



'HE great improvement which of late years has been effected in the 

 herbaceous varieties of this beautiful plant has led to its greatly increased 

 cultivation as an ornamental plant for the conservatory, without reference 

 to its particular properties as a florists' flower. For this purpose the plant 

 is well adapted, and will amply repay the cultivator when both the strain and 

 the habit are good. The culture likewise is so simple and easy, that no one who 

 has a cold pit at command need be without a good show. 



In early days, the varieties of this plant were usually propagated by cuttings, 

 which entailed a great amount of care. So long as the varieties were few in 

 number, this was an unavoidable necessity ; but now the size, form, and colour of 

 the flowers are so good and afford such infinite variety, and the habit of plant is so 

 much improved by a system of culture from seed alone, that propagation by cut- 

 tings is not needed, unless it be in the case of very superior varieties, for the mere 

 purpose of crossing. The system, therefore, now generally adopted, and which is 

 greatly to be preferred, is to treat it simply as an annual, thereby effecting a great- 

 saving of time and trouble, no light consideration in these days, when the number 

 of subjects claiming the gardener's attention seems multiplying ad infinitum. 



The first requisite is to obtain good seed. Fine strains are to be bought 

 in the trade ; but cultivators generally like to have a strain of their own as 

 well, and to have it good the sorts must be carefully crossed, in the 

 performance of which operation a few leading objects must be kept in 

 view, such as the size, shape, and colour of the flowers, and the habit 

 of growth. The aim should be to obtain the three first, on plants of a 

 dwarf and compact habit of growth. Some sorts are so rampant, that they 

 spread out in all directions, requiring a forest of tall sticks to keep them in 

 bounds. Such should be discarded for hybridizing, unless the flowers are very 

 superior in shape and colour, when they may be used to fertilize the flowers on a 

 dwarf-habited plant, of which there are many that never require the support of 

 a stick. It is best to remove from the general stock the plants selected for 

 crossing, and to place them where they can have sunshine under glass, leaving 

 only a few flowers on each plant, and taking care to effect the fertilization in 

 due time during the middle of the day, when the sun is out. Observe that a 

 dozen good pods of seed will furnish a very large supply of plants. 



The seed should be allowed to ripen thoroughly ; in most cases this will be 

 accomplished about the end of August, about which time also it ought to be sown. 

 We use shallow pans filled with light soil, which should be pressed down to a 



